Update: I just found an interesting article on Kinko's founder Paul Orfalea, one of the world's most inspiring entrepreneurs. He is an example of very successful people with ADD.
The other day I wrote an entry criticizing one of the decisions recently implemented by FedEx regarding the takeover and renaming of the world-famous Kinko's brand. The main point of the argument was that, judging solely by comments I found on Twitter regarding the Kinko's brand and experiences in their copy shops, FedEx made a bad choice taking the Kinko's name off the stores and simply calling it FedEx Office. I argued that for many the Kinko's brand was synonymous with bad customer service and overpriced print and copy services, and that unless FedEx plans to fix the problems associated with the stores, those negative feelings once reserved for Kinko's will soon be targeted at the greater FedEx brand itself.
The core of the argument was based on the idea that most people harbor ill will toward Kinko's.
Now let's look at it from a different perspective.
First off, I said off the bat that most of the Tweets about Kinko's were simple statements, like "I'm going to Kinko's." These far outnumbered the qualitative Tweets about Kinko's (e.g. "I hate Kinko's" or "I love Kinko's!"). So one could draw the conclusion that these people in the former group, in advertising and endorsing the Kinko's name, are implying that they've had mostly good experiences with the company (or else why would they come back?).
Now, let's look at the nitty gritty of why FedEx Office (Kinko's) still prospers and will probably continue to do so, even as companies like our own undercut their prices by upwards of 500 percent.
1. FedEx Office / Kinko's has a location in almost every decent sized city. This means that when you need something NOW, not three days from now, you can drive over there and have your copies or books in minutes. This is great if you're in a bind or short on time, and it's no wonder they are so popular with students.
2. They have no minimums. Sure, their color copies might cost $.50 a piece, but if all you need are 10 copies that's not too much of a concern. Again, that's part of why they're popular among students (and teachers, for that matter).
3. Kinko's is much more geared at the consumer. While companies like ours do serve thousands of single-person consumers, our prices and services are much more geared at businesses and organizations who typically need a lot more than just 10 color copies or three bound books.
4. Kinko's does a lot more than color copies and printing. In short, they are diversified. You can get your passport there, you can rent time on a computer with Internet access, you can pick up some basic office supplies, and you can ship packages. We do none of those things; color copying and printing is our specialty, and we couldn't implement some of these other things if we wanted to.
These are the four main points I can think of off hand why Kinko's is useful, and why they will never be put out of business by the likes of us and other online printing companies. Can you think of any more reasons? Post in the comments below.
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